we get potassium and calcium in abundance in our food. the problem is too much salt and not enough iodine. i thought the recent discussions on Iodine were quite illuminating. but i see your point. anyone visit the coral calcium forum lately?

Taking in 5 teaspoonful a day is hardly taking as much as possible or an overdose in my opinion...

I consumed 3 to 3&1/2 teaspoonful of kelp a day for a while before that and the slight increase made a very noticeable positive difference. However, that is me. Let us use common sense here, and say that may not be a good thing for everyone.

Is it an overdose? I do not think so. A therapeutic dose? Possibly as the diet of some cultures ingest more than this on a daily basis.

I understand where you are coming from, balance is VERY important. Balance is impossible to achieve using a single mineral by itself. I think this is where individual application should be responsibly assessed and evaluated by the doctor (the person self experimenting). I also think it very important to keep in mind that there is a great deal of misinformation out there, both from "official" sources and marketers, and even here in curezone. There is most likely a post that can be dug up of anyone on curezone where they pushed misinformation inadvertently.

I work very hard to get ALL of my minerals from food sources (ummm, kelp is a food source), but have found benefit in the past supplementing, and for the most part supplementing with high quality plant based supplements. We are all in different places and have different needs... educate as best you can, make a self diagnosis and then treat. If the treatment indicates required therapeutic doses of a particular mineral or group of minerals, move forward using food based mineral supplements as much as possible.

What I choose to do is ONLY for me based upon my own, responsible understanding of what I need, based on what I have done and have learned. If it is incorrect, I will discover that in short order, reassess and move on. No big deal, always onward and upward. I share it here, NOT to have another person grab onto it and jump in with both feet, but to share my results. In doing that, the people who have come before have offered valuable information that provide different ideas and methods to achieve a forward move towards health.

By the way, I increased my kelp and got noticeable, positive results with it before reading vulcanel's posts on Iodine and did not make the association to Iodine itself until afterwards... if that is in fact the trace mineral in kelp that is helping me. It very well could be another trace mineral.

Your concern for people, and your understanding of health and how to achieve it is greatly appreciated. I would ask that you try to open your mind a little, allowing for more than one way to get there and to trust that those helping themselves are moving in the right direction. Gently guiding someone who may need the guidance from you as a teacher, may require allowing them mistakes and hardships. Who knows, you may learn something for or about yourself in the process.

You may have something there about "trendy minerals" or the "flavor of the week" (as it were).

Perhaps one contributing factor is the following scenario:
John Doe gives a testimonial that many people are deficient in mineral X, and when he took (ate) large doses of mineral X, his health improved dramatically!
So then hundreds of people read this testimonial. They all take large doses of this mineral X. Some people notice a particular improvement! They, too, post testimonials! Meanwhile, plenty of others did not notice anything different. They, then, move on to mineral Y... and mineral Z...

Of course there are many things people are deficient in. And there is a testimonial for each one! The search continues!

Sometimes there is one significant factor. But I agree with you, the holistic approach is best! (Anyway, the SAD diet is deficient on most important nutrients ~ and a healthy Diet is rich in almost all nutrients. I'd imagine SAD people will be getting dramatic results from most any increased mineral).